Deleted Archive: The Five
by The Grey Coincidence
Summary: Before the Dragon Warrior. Before they were masters. Before they were friends. Follow Tigress, Viper, Crane, Monkey and Mantis as they try to solve their own differences. While trying to stop the mysterious Shadow Thieves from committing a crime that will make them famous. All while trying to keep it under Shifu's unbelievably twitchy...ears.
1. Hello Jade Palace

**A/N: You may have noticed that I am restarting this story. Well it's not the only one. I have 3 newly planned stories 2 coming soon and this is** the first. Enjoy.

It was a bright sunny summer's day in the Valley of Peace. The people in the streets below were going about their normal days under the protection of the Kung fu Masters and Students of the Jade Palace. In the Jade Palace, however, life was not as it normally was. Normally Tigress and Viper would be halfway through another gruelling training session. However now they were standing in front of the wooden doors waiting.

Master Shifu had told them that Master Oogway had told him that today at six three masters would be arriving. While this wasn't exactly big news, as people often visited the Jade Palace, the next thing was. They had been asked to befreind them. Viper was probably the nicest person Tigress knew so she wouldn't have any problems with that. Tigress, however had always had so-called 'freindship' issues as Zeng called them. Still it was probably easier to befriend a brave kung fu master, than a group of cowardly orphans. They had been waiting for three hours and still there was no sign of didn't bother Tigress so much as it gave her time to think.

The only reason she considered Viper a friend was because they had lived together for almost nine years. Tigress had been in the Jade Palace for five years and had been ten at the time, Viper had been eight herself. A small, shy, kind-hearted emerald green tree viper. The daughter of Grand Master Viper and already proficient in Snake Style of Kung fu. They had soon become firm friends.

A dull thud followed by long panting came from behind the doors. Quickly Tigress and Viper opened the door expecting to see three tall strong (in Viper's case handsome) Kung fu masters. Instead they found a tall gangly red-crowned crane (though he didn't have a red crown yet). He was leaning on one of the walls on the side of the door and was panting heavily. He had light brown eyes and wore a typical rice hat and blue pants with a purple belt. His feet was covered in what looked like a lot of rings. On the ground beside him was a brown patched bag filled with scrolls, a mat, some paint-brushes, and several bottles of ink.

"And you are", asked Tigress, a look of clear disapointment on her face.

"Yeah we were expecting someone",added Viper the look of dissapointment also clear on her features. He was a head taller than Tigress, sure, but he didn't look strong and was only a little cute.

The bird missed the looks of dissapointment of his hosts and quickly did the Kung fu salute.

"Crane, student formerly of Lee da in Fujian province, eighteen, former janitor, Masters".

Viper was taken over by giggles, Crane blushed and Tigress thought that if the salute had been any different he could have been in the Imperial Army. This moment was broken by the laughter of a newly arrived mantis. He was green and seemed to have some bizzare patterns on his back, other than that there was nothing significant about him.

"I can't believe you did that".

"Shut it Mantis, I flew you all the way here".

"And dropped me at the bottom of the stairs"!

"You asked for it", retorted Crane."You try flying with a bug screaming into your ear. Ever heard of karma".

Mantis looked for certain like he was going to explode. Tigress wisely stepped in.

"Both of you can it, before Shifu hears".

Both the bug and the the bird looked like they wanted to punch Tigress, luckily for them they were interupted by the arrival of a panting golden snub-nosed monkey. He too was dragging a bag behind him, and was wearing brown pants and leather greaves. He looked tired and flustered but managed to wave at the group assembled there. He smiled before he noticed that Tigress, Crane and Mantis were all glaring at him. Before anyone could end up hating each other more than they already did, Viper took charge.

"You must all be really tired. We can take you to the student barracks if you like, you can rest and unpack there while Tigress informs Master Shifu of your arrival. Shall we"?

And before anyone could say anything she turned and slithered away. With much glares and dirty looks, they set off, Tigress leading the way, Crane glaring behind her, Mantis doing the same on his shoulder. Monkey trailing at the back looking flabbergasted.

"Why do you all hate me"?

 _Footnote:_

 _Not much yet but I think it turned out better then last time. To those who have read my previous stories I have decided to go back and 'fix'these errors I have made. Han Guan will not appear in this story but I'm not scrapping him. I am going to do the same with Bei after a while. And one more thing Mongol Wars is still on hiatus._

 _See ya._


	2. Fortune Cookies

Tigress slowly sipped her tea as she imagined what Viper would be doing now. Probably showing the newbies the training hall. A few hours had passed since their arrival and she had a feeling that the next few years were gonna be long.

It had been alright at first when Tigress and Viper had shown them their rooms. She would have let them unpack and go train but Viper had offered to help them get settled in and it would have been rude not to help so she had stayed. As she was removing multiple items from Monkey's bag she stumbled across an invitation letter. An invitation to the Jade Palace. For "an education in Kung fu from the revered Master Shifu". It also said that " he who receives this scroll is allowed to stay, train and live at the Jade Palace indefinetly".

"What"!?

Instantly Viper leapt into a fighting stance. The other three fumbling quickly behind her. Monkey had even drawn a knife from somewhere. Tigress glared at all three of them with such ferocity it could have peirced their souls.

" You, lying evil little rats",she made a movement as if to choke them butstopped.

"Lying"?

" Evil"?

"Rats"?

Asked the three one after other.

" You never said you were going to stay here permenantly"!, she seethed.

"You never asked", Crane pointed out.

Tigress took a deep breath. He was right it wasn't their fault. It was Shifu's.

Tigress leapt out of the room. Intent on venting her anger. She didn't care if he made her walk up and down the stairs one thousand times. Her anger had once again gotten the better of her. How come he hadn't told her ? He never told her anything. She had now reached the stairs which led down to Shifu's room, and took them five at a time. She didn't notice that the other four were following nervously behind her. She had reached Shifu's room. Normally she would knock and wait to be told to enter, now she threw open the doors and bellowed at her loudest voice.

" How come you didn't tell us they were staying"indefinetly"! I would have tried to befriend them if I knew I would end up staying years in the same house with them"!

"Why are you shouting ?",bellowed Shifu.

" Why are you shouting ?"Tigress bellowed back.

It was hard to tell who was angrier, but both were rocking the palace to it's core.

"What is the matter ?",snapped Shifu.

Tigress remembered her place and answered in a small voice that was barely audible.

" I'm sorry Master it's just that I was angry that they were to stay indefinetly" ?

"Indefinetly"?

" Yes Master I forgot my place".

Shifu took a deep breath. "Oogway".

Shifu stormed out of the barracks. He didn't care if Oogway made him walk up and down the stairs a thousand times, he was going to get his message across to that turtle. He was tired of always getting half the plan while the grandmaster sat their quoting famous sayings, or making them up. He had reached the doors to the Hall of Warriors, only now did he notice the five students following behind. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He mustn't forget his place.

He opened the door and saw clearly Oogway lying inside his shell, balanced on his staff.

" Master"?

"Yes".

" I-um wish to speak with you".

"You do"? His tone sounded curious but Shifu could tell the turtle already knew why he was here.

" Regarding the visiting Masters".

"Ah yes, you wish to know why it is I didn't tell you that they were to be your students".

" Yes",it wasn't the first time Oogway had given Shifu the impression that he could read minds.

"Well Shifu would you have taken them in so warmly if I had told you the truth"?

" No",replied Shifu in a voice smaller then himself.

"Good, now you must at least give them the chance to prove themselves. I'm thinking a little competition down at the Valley should be good. How about three days, on the full moon".

Yep, Shifu thought, Oogway always told him half the plan.

" Oh and Miss Viper could give all of them a tour",added Oogway as he noticed the group of five standing awkwardly at the doorway, Monkey, Mantis and Crane nervous, Viper confused and Tigress ashamed of how quickly her temper had gotten the better of her.

Tigress still didn't know why she had gotten so angry so quickly over something so small. It was almost out of character. Still at least all those events proved why Shifu had asked them to befreind each other. She turned her thoughts back to reality as the four figures walked into the room, nervous and awkward.

"I got fortune cookies", began Monkey.

" You know for the competition",added Mantis.

"And to apologise for annoying you", finished Crane.

Tigress could not think of a single moment when they had actually annoyed her and as such was thoroughly confused by the apology, but accepted her cookie nevertheless. The sound of cracking bounced across the kitchen.

"You will break a leg", read both Tigress and Crane at the same time. Tigress snorted but Crane looked extremely pale.

" You will reveal the best in some people"read Viper."Aw, that's so sweet".

"Your size is your greatest strength. What kind of sick joke is this?!", demanded Mantis, already ripping the paper into shreds.

" Pick on someone your own size and keep to your business alone. That's just rubbish",commented the simian, chucking his cookie into the fireplace. "Well it's been a long day, so goodnight".

Mantis soon followed yawning loudly. Crane went next, still ghostly white, he didn't even say goodnight. When it was only her and Tigress in the room Viper asked:

" So what do you think of them"?


	3. Training Session

**A/N: I was wondering about writing this and another fic back-to-back and my only question is this:How hard is it ? Aside from that enjoy the chapter.**

If Viper had thought that that small moment of companionship the previous day would last, she was to be proven wrong. Nothing spelt competition more then a bunch of kung fu students in a competition.

The minute the morning gong had sounded Oogway had explained to them what they were to do. Because Shifu refused to do so. The full moon was two days away. So today they would train in their own ways. Tommorow they would pick the skill they were to demonstrate. And finally on the full moon they showed off their skills and proved themselves worthy to study at the Jade that they were led to a table full to the brim with food. Considering Tigress was accustomed to eating a few pieces of tofu a day, this was new to her, for certain. Even Viper, who's father was pretty much the baddass leader of her village, and had lived in opulence most of her life was shocked by the quantity. Oogway left them to eat and they each did so in completely different ways.

Mantis gorged himself on the most succulent dishes he could get his thingy's on. Tigress was careful to pick the goods more akin to her kung fu diet. But even in this variety she struggled. Crane was shovelling down food so quickly it was hard to tell whether he even knew what he had been eating before. Viper ate normally, bothering with manners for a change. Monkey simply picked at his food, he had never had this much in his entire life. He noticed Crane's bizzare manner of eating and was about to ask why he had been doing that when the avian left the kitchen, clearly in a hurry to be somewhere.

"What's up with him"?, he asked to noone in particular.

" Beats me", belched Mantis, who had somehow bloated to twice his normal size."Probably does that all the time".

"So, what do you guys normally do around here"?,this question was aimed at Viper and Tigress. Viper would have replied honestly but Tigress beat her to it.

" We spend the whole day in the Training Hall, you two could join us if you like"?

"We could"?

" Absolutely. You two go ahead and we'll catch up".

As soon as they were out of earshot Viper lost it."What do you think you're doing" ?she demanded from gritted fangs.

"I'm observing their techniques and styles" she replied grinning maliciously."Besides now we get to see what they're capable of".

"And Crane"?

" We'll deal with him later".

"We could just read scrolls you know".

" Scrolls"?

"About their techniques".

" Viper",began Tigress, clearly exasperated."There are four types of Mantis Style. Five types of Monkey Styles and Three types of Crane Style. We'd never be able to guess which one they would be using. We can go to the library after lunch".

"Fine", sighed Viper. Knowing that Tigress' plans never went to plan.

* * *

It was the worst training session ever. They could all endure pain, that being the first lesson ever taught in Kung fu, but this pain was unindurable. It had started with Tigress and Monkey sparring on the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, while Viper and Mantis duled on the Thousand Tongues of Flame. Tigress had underestimated her opponent and had been launched onto the tongues of flame, crushing Viper onto an active hole which burst flames almost immediately pushing both of them high into the air and crashing inside the Jade Tortoise, causing Monkey to topple inside landing on top of them as the tortoise spun round and round. Mantis with a shout of:

"I'm going to get help"! Had ran into the path of a swinfing xlub,only for it to launch him into the pile of jerking fangs, claws and limbs. By the time it had stopped spinning they had climbdd out and thrown up over the side just as Shifu entered, only to make all of them clean the Training Hall until he could see his reflection on it. By the time they had dealt with his punishments and their cuts and bruises it was dinner time.

"I hate Shifu", ranted Mantis for the upteenth time. " Sure we puked. Big deal. If that guy even thinks avout doing this tommorow. Oooh is he gonna be sorry".

"I'd reccomend not getting on the wrong side of Shifu. That was a walk in the park compared to what he normally did. Be glad he didn't make you use your toothbrush". Viper was saying.

Tigress ignored the conversation. Her plan had failed, she still had no idea what their respective styles were and to top it all off a simian had beaten her down in less than a minute. It was then that she had understood that, other than Snake style(Viper Style to be precise), she had never faced another kung fu master or their style. She understood now that really she wasn't that great a fighter, especially if she were so self-inclosed. She had no idea how other masters fought.

"At least the foods not punishing us", mumbled Mantis as they arrived at the kitchen, the table once again laden with food. Crane was already there standing at the far end, reading a scroll and wearing what looked like gigantic spectacles. He mumbled a greeting as they filed in, Mantis already starting on a plate of honey-laced dumplings, thanking bees for existing.

It was then that Monkey was struck with wonder. The bird had seemingly dissapeared completely for most of the day, and only now did he really wonder as to where the avian had been. Tigress asked first however.

"Where were you"?

" Library",he muttered putting down the spectacles and the glasses. He still looked nervous. Was he seriously that worried about his leg ? But before anyone could ask Oogway walked in.

Monkey and Crane had barely eaten anything. Viper had elegantly nibbled a dumpling. Tigress hadn't eaten anything, but Mantis got the worst share of embarrasment, halfway through a large naan bread, stuffed with salads and noodles. Oogway, however didn't care, he still looked completely serene.

"Tommorow, I will call for all of you individually, so that you can tell me how you will prove yourself worthy to Master Shifu. I reccomend something impressive",he then leaned in close and whispered conspiratorally."He isn't in a good mood".

He then turned and walked off. Somehow everyone in the room thought the same thing.

I will never understand that turtle.


	4. The Frozen Jail

**A/N:So more OC action today but that's only now. Enjoy.**

Deep in the mountains. It was freezing. The wind howled against the doors of the prison, made out of iron,sending all it's inhabitants an icy chill. It wasn't Chor Gom, it was worse, you had to killl to get in, and you had to killl loads. The record was sixty. But the worst thing was, these people liked to kill, entertainingly. One had eaten his victims whole or forced them up his wrong end, choking them( if they were small enough), but he was only third. Another had literally broken every bone in his victims bodies, and had painfully taken them out himself, but he was only second. The worst one did it worse. She paralyzed her victims with poison, coming close to their heart, which she then ripped out. This was Juda and she, unlike the other poor souls in the prison, wasn't alone. She was married. Literally. And she could hear him coming right now.

She was five metres long, with little diamond ornaments spreading over her back and otherwise sea green body. She wore nothing but loved jewelry, it was how she had been caught, it was her one great weakness and fatal flaw. Behind two little red slits she stared at her captors, how she longed to kill them.

* * *

He was about the size of a monkeys palm. His name was Jixiao and he was a proffesional theif. He was a little round but he was also extremely fast. He was cowardly and he never would have put a whisker on this prison had it not been for his wife. He wore a bright red suit of armour. Where he lacked in size he made up in brainpower. The guard in this prison were litterally all dogs. At least better then cats. There was a small fire in the middle and most of them were huddled around it. Jixiao knew that he would need a distraction to do what he was about to do. And you don't get better distractions then a full-scale prison break out. He had brought a firework, and he was going to use it. But first he needed to light it.

* * *

Back in the Jade Palace Tigress was the last to be called by Oogway. Crane, Monkey and Mantis went first but didn't say what they had chosen to do exactly on the next day. Viper had said something about the Thousand Tongues of Flame but Tigress hadn't heard about it. Finally Oogway had caller her over. But she had no idea what she wanted to do. She could go around the Training Hall three times, that would approve with the villagers, but not Shifu. If only she knew what the others were doing.

She sat down next to Oogway wondering how he had always been at peace with everything. Not even Tai Lung could scare him or make him worried, it seemed he didn't even care about anything. He could be hanging off a cliff and still act the same way, if only Tigress knew his secret. Inner Peace maybe ? Oogway opened his eyes and stared at her. She didn't know how long they stood there but she knew they would have to stop eventually.

"So Tigress, what would you like to do"? He finnally asked.

"Do"? The long staring contest lasted a long time, and had completely disoriented her, so that she had forgotten what she was even there for.

" For the competition tommorow. Is there anything you wish to speak to me about"?

Tigress paused, she never talked to Oogway much, but she knew that somehow, whatever he said filled you with hope.

"I want to know what the others are doing",she said then added,"Master".

"I'm sorry Tigress,I am sworn to secrecy. And Viper has most likely already told you. Now how will you prove yourself worthy to me and Shifu, though I already know that you are all more than worthy to study here at the Jade Palace".

Tigress's mind raced faster then ever. She had to think of the wildest most crazy thing she could do, that was still do-able. And then it hit her. The thing she thought she never would have had to fight.

"I'll fight the Juggernaut".

* * *

He picked up a stone about the size of himself, using all his srtength he lifted and then dropped it against the ground. The sound was ear-cracking in the dark and empty echoes of the prison. He raced to the wall and dissapeared into a little crack in the wall. The guards raced down that corridor, leaving the fire empty and unguarded. He clambered out of the crevice and to the fire. He retrieved the firework from it's hiding place. Carrying it on top of his head, balanced with his arms running on two feet, his pitter-patter- amplified in the dark tunnels. He lighted it just as the guards turned round the corner, the firework speeding like a commet crashed and blew up on the lock of the bone-breaker. He was free and as soon as he was everyone of the guard's attention was on him, now a black and white blur as he raced towards the exit, weaving past arrows and dodging guards. In this moment of glorious confusion Jixiao scurried towards the nearest cell, a blur of grey fur and red armour, clambering up the bars and to the lock, picking it with his tail. Expecting to see his wife racing past him, instead a camel, at least a hundred times his size, raced past him screaming "Chi is finally free". At least the guards would be busy.

The next time he was luckier. Juda uncoiled herself and smiled, freedom was so close she could almost taste it herself. "Thank you dearie".

" No problem, oh and buy the way, happy annivedsary".

"Oh sweetie you remembered". She gave him a little peck of a kiss and together they strolled out, as free as birds. The guards still focused on the camel, tossing them aside with his massive hooves.

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _What's a good story without a good villain ? And what's a KFP story without any action ? So boom I have the main villains introduced._

 _Juda means Huge which suits her. Jixiao on the other hand means tiny, whixh also suits him. Chi means eat which suits him, but he won't appear in this story any more, his next appearance is in The Feral Islands, coming as soon as this is finished. The bone breaker is another OC coming on Halloween, so sadly he won't continue in this story. I decided not to bother with descriptions for him and Chi as they are pretty much only cameoing. See you._


	5. The Battle of the Full Moon

**A/N: I have half of the fight with the Juggernaut in this chapter, the other half in the next chapter. So enjoy this After this ill be gone for a bit but remember ill be back. Sorry for the chapter length.**

The Juggernaut. A mechanical, four-armed, axe-weilding monster. It was like fighting two people at the same time, only two highly skilled axemen. It was two feet taller than most people, and if you were short, you were sevely disadvantaged. The worst was, she was going to have to fight it. The crowds were already filing into the Jade Palace Tournament Arena. Tigress would go first then Crane, then Viper, then Monkey and finally Mantis everything was ready.

In order to stay in the Jade Palace you had to get more than fifteen points out of thirty, less and you'd have to leave. There were three judges all giving points out of ten. One was Oogway, another was Shifu and the third must have been a village elder.

Earlier that day Zeng had wished her good luck, she liked Zeng, he was like an uncle to her. Shifu her master and adoptive father had never really cared for her when she was younger. That was apparently Zeng's job.

She knew now who was doing what. Viper would have to dogde and deflect fireworks either into the crowd or into the air. Crane would have to deflect hundreds of crossbowd. Mantis would go through the training Hall blindfolded and Monkey would fight ten bandits, who if they beat him were released from jail, if not they would have to go back.

There was no commentator. Tigress had seen a parrot called Chaonao apply for that position, but was for some reason denied.

* * *

The competition was called The Battle of The Full Moon. And to a young panda who adored everything about Kung Fu, it was the highlight of the fortnight. His father had insisted that they both close up shop for the night and go up to the Jade palace because as he had put it,"the whole valley would be there, and we can sell noodles to all of them". Still if selling noodles was a highway pass into any Kung Fu tournament. He might as well sell noodles for the rest of his life, or become a Kung fu Master, but as his yoga teacher had put it, he couldn't do anything if you couldn't do a split. So maybe he'd just stick to cooking.

* * *

Viper looked up and down the long and uncomfortable bench at her soon to be team mates. Tigress showed no emotion, as usual. Crane looked like he was about to throw up. Monkey was idly twidling his thumbs, looking pale. Mantis was closing his eyes in what seemed like a desperate and silent prayer. In maybe ten minutes Tigress would stand up and start. If she didn't get in then, what was she talking about of course Tigress would get in, why wouldn't she get in, she could beat the food out of someone, of course she could do the same with the Juggernaut.

* * *

What general Chuizi was about to do would probably dishonour him for the rest of his life. He was going to have to write five letters. one to his direct superiors, who would have to know about the recent escape. Three to the leaders of all the closest villages to warn their citizens. And one more to the family of the guard who had been sent into a comma after the escaped camel had whacked him across the face. He had already written the first one which if you read it looked slightly ridiculous.

 _Dear sirs,_

 _I am writing to inform you of the latest news in my are of current work. There has been a jailbreak conducted by an out of control firework and faulty lock systems, which have led to the escape of three of the highest ranking prisoners. There of course is going to be a full enquiry as to what faulty locks and a firework were doing in the complex but as of now there is still no clue, but I assure you that we are all trying our hardest to recapture the escapees. I have already sent out a warning to the surrounding villages to be on alert, a further message would be useful in order to confirm the request. I am also writing to the Jade Palace to send in an operative for assistance._

 _Yours truthfully, General Chuizi_

When he had joined the Imperial Army many years prior his idea would be adventure and excitement. Action and exceedingly powerful foes, that had to be defeated and could only defeated by the hero's wit and his will. What he definitely was not expecting was to be seen sitting at a desk copying down letters to people about a jailbreak that he himself had failed to stop. If he was lucky he would get demoted to a more interesting position, maybe at the great wall, that would really show Vachir who was the better general. And with that thought in mind he started copying down the first letter.

* * *

A gong rung through the arena. Immediately the crowd [who moments before had been jabbering like...well animals] fell silent. Tigress stood up, and the issuing roar of the crowd silenced any supporting words Viper could say. She could do this, impress Shifu, impress the crowd. She was going to win. She was going to beat the Juggernaut.

Easier said than done.

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _So guys before i leave I just have a few things to say._

 _One. Chuizi means Hammer, but that's probably his only appearance, except for maybe later on._

 _Two. So what if I put a Po cameo, this is FANFICTION!_

 _Three. I'll probably gone for only a week so see you i'll be back._


	6. The Juggernaut

**A/N:I** like **this style of updating chapters. It gives me itore freedom. I'll be writing what the crowds are doing in itallics, so yo don't get confused. I regret not getting a commentator for this but still, what can you do. Enjoy.**

Tigress ducked under an axe swing that would have severed her head from her body if it had connected. The crowd gasped. _Then applaude._ So far she had only given the Juggernaut glancing blows, that made no difference to the fight. She had attempted to claw the Juggernaut, but the claws only touched it. She lunged again, but had to duck under an axe swing before her fist made the connection. She tried a Wire Kick, jumping into the air with a bent knee and lunging with the other. It was one of the most formidable kicks she had learnt, but the Iron Ox merely blocked it with two axes. She had been expecting this. She lunged with her other leg while still in midair, this one gave a satisfactory hit that pushed the Juggernaut back several feet. The audience howled their approval. Applauding her bravery.

Now she had space she tried to think on what her next move should be. The Juggernaut would be expecting another kick, that was the problems with machines, they couldn't think for themselves. Tigress could. She had improvised the Wire Kick, maybe she could try and improvise again. Tigress glanced at Shifu, he was looking stern but gave nothing away. The rest of the competitors were all looking impressed. Viper was joining inthe cheering. Mantis was applauding quitely, applauding was one thing his thingies prevented him from doing. Monkey was looking stunned. Crane was staring directly back at her and shaking his head. She looked back at her competitor, the Juggernaut was ready. She moved in for a punch, but in the last second her she swung on the pads of her feet and turned into a roundhouse kick, yet another famed kung fu technique. But amazingly the Iron Ox had blocked it with two axes, and used the two others to lunge at her head, Tigress ducked, but barely.

The tips of her head fur had been cut off completely. She needed to get out of the Juggernaut's grip, the crowd, the arena, Shifu, all of that dissappeared it was just her and then the Juggernaut. She lunged with both her arms, trying to aim for the bolts that held the machine in place. Two of her fists made the connection, slamming it backwards several feet, pulling her leg with it. She jumped and tried a spin kick to release her leg. Jumping into the air, turning round and kicking with one leg, all in midair. Her kick connected with the Juggernaut's face, not even making a dent, but at least getting both her legs free. The Iron Ox was more resiliant then that though. And it seemed determined to beat her down once and for all. It swung it's upper arm upwards, rotating it's downward arms in an arc around it, sending it'upper arms in a downward arc, it's victory was certain. Tigress raised both her arms into a block, but the full impact of the axes (luckily it was the blunt side) still hit her arms.

After that she registered barely anything. The pain was too much for her at first, but she regained enough sense to see her own scoreboard shown by the judges. Oogway had given her a seven, the village elder a four and Shifu. Shifu had given her a three.

This was the worst thing that had ever happened to her in her life. Fourteen out of fifteen. She had failed. She would have to leave the Jade Palace, it had been her home for so long. And it was all their faults. If Monkey, Mantis and Crane had never showed their faces, this whole tournament wouldn't have happened, it would have been just her and Viper. If she couldn't stay none of them would. She wouldn't fail Viper, but the others, they definetly deserved what she had planned.

* * *

Crane had always had confidence issues. Since starting school, going to Lee Da, both as a janitor and a student. It was as much a part of him as his hat was. Still he wished he had never opened that fortune cookie. Or the door to the library, that was where he had found this suicide mission of a task, under the title 'The Art of Deflection'.

He was to stand on only three of his talons, on a thin block of wood, with at least a hundred crossbow pointed at him, the razor sharp tips of the bolts jeering at him as they glistened in the moonlight. They were repeating crossbows, and altogether they fired ten thousand bolts,he had to deflect them all, and recollect them all at the end. All while not leaving the block of wood. He was a natural aerokinect but this was going to push him to the limit.A limit he was not sure he could climb to.

* * *

The gong sounded for the next task to begin. Crane stepped onto the block and balanced on his talons correctly. He alone had the trigger to the crossbows, the trigger that if he pulled by accident would scewer him with at least a thousand bolts, he'd be dead before he even registered the pain. Could he do this ?He remembered the words Mei Ling had spoken before his entrance test at Lee Da.

 _"Ling, I'm not really sure whether I can do this"._

 _He felt a sudden pain on his cheek. Mei Ling had slapped him._

 _"People are going to doubt you, people always do when someone's different. But if you doubt yourself, you prove them right"._

Crane smiled as he remembered those words. He could do it. He pulled the trigger (a piece of rope).


	7. Bolts and Flames

**A/N: Once again hello and enjoy the chapter. Please review.**

The arrows came thick and fast, Crane's wings spread out vigorously to deflect them. Twisting his body and pivoting on one of his legs so that at a moments notice he could spin back. He wondered briefly whether the audience could even see him, he certainly could not seee them anyways.

He continued. The arrows seemingly flowing through his wings as it leapt out and onto the grounds.

There was a brief pause as the crossbows re-loaded. There would be ten of these waves. But that didn't matter, his whole test was a sham. He had placed all the crossbows into such a position so that if his calculations were correct the bolts would always go into the same place. All he had to do was stand their and practice one of the first and easiest forms he had learnt at Lee Da. The audience of course did not know could barely see him, let alone what he was doing. All they noticed was that with every reload Crane seemed to have survived being scuwered alive.

* * *

Tigress was struck with wonder at what she was seeing, or not seeing. Crane was shrouded Iin mist, the bolts acting as a shimmering and everflowing veil, the crowd had gone silent. The waterfowl should have been dead, the arrows should have hit one of them in a crossfire. But somehow it wasn't. Tigress was pretty sure there was nothing she could do about her predicament.

Well screw him, she had enough. She picked up a stone and threw it, as if throwing all her worries away. The stone hit a crossbow and it moved ever so slightly to the left, that was when all hell broke loose.

* * *

One bolt hit another bolt and together they started spinning until they collided with Crane's wing, cutting a jagged line of red across it. He diflected another wave with a blast of wind, surely there couldn't be many more bolts to deal with, only a hundred maybe.

His talon snapped

into motion, grabbing a bunch of them and throwing them back at their original firers. He had to disable as many of them as quickly as possible. Several bolts hit his other wing, showering little droplets of blood over his wings. He was struggling. He heard a click, the final reload. He paused. The audience saw him clearly now, they gasped, both his wings smattered in the red substance of his own body. At least fifty bolts came at him, but he was ready, he lifted his wings in an arc and pushed the bolts upwards, towards the moon. They seemed to darken the night for just a second. Then came down towards him, like one great cloud of death. Without moving he threw up his hat, as a feeble shield, they cut it down together, but a few were stopped in their tracks. As the arrows rained down, he pivoted twisting himself and positioning his wings so that the great death-cloud glided past his wing, landing heavily on the ground besides him.

* * *

Tigress watched as the avian did all this, then promptly faint. Oh well. He wasn't going to be dissapointed until tomorrow. Six from Oogway, two from Shifu and look at that the elderhad given him a three. That had been worse then her. One down, two to go. At the very least she wouldn't be leaving alone.

* * *

Viper was certainly nervous by the time her turn had come. She had watched as Tigress and Crane both fail fantastically. If she didn't manage to get past this shewould be forced to leave along with them. She forced herself not to think about that. She couldn't lose.

She was up against the Thousand Tongues of Flame, a giant dragon that would spit out fireworks she had to divert upwards. If something went wrong she would be burned worse than ever in her entire life. Best not to think too far ahead.

The gong sounded and the first firework whizzed out, trailing red behind it. Viper immediately sprung up from her coils and landed a tail strike to the firework, sending it flying into the air where it blew up into thousands of red coins. Another one came out, this one leaving a trail of green behind as she sent it upwards , this time by wrapping it and unwarpping it horrizontally, until reaching vertical lift off, showering sparkling emeralds from the blown up trunk.

* * *

Tigress allowed herself to smile, Viper was doing well was probably the easiesr trial but it made up for that in just how beautiful it was. And as Tigress sat there she thought about just how much Viper deserved to win. She was kind, loyal, funny, joyful, caring...everything about Viper seemed to be made from something good. Sugar, spice and all things nice. That was Viper after ' first and for now only friend. Tigress smirked once more as a light blue firework errupted, and for a brief second she saw Viper, painted by the shimmering powder. The crowd doing the completely usual oohs and aaahs as each new explosion released another smatter of colour. If only the world was like this every then the Valley of Peace would truly be perfect.

* * *

Pink, yellow, silver, gold, red, turqoise, purple, violet. Every single colour imaginable explided one after another towards Viper and then towards the full moon, it's white glow slightly diminished by the power of several _dan_ of gunpowder In the dark of the night.

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _So couple of things to say about this story in general. It will be updated either every Tuesady or every Thursday, leaving me plenty of time to write chapters._

 _You may or may not have noticed that Tigress is trying to sabotage/backstab all the other competitors. For reasons I think are clear._

 _A dan is a chinese unit of measurement. It is approximately 50kg._

 _Enjoy and Update soon._


	8. The Karateka

**A/N:OK two things, or more. First of all Mantis's trial is delibaretly cut short. Trust me it will all work out better this way. Secondly. I know that this** would have been a lot more convenient if I had **done it in the particular story. Please (if you have read it) may I have a score out of ten for Leaving Lee Da, Fury and The Haunted House (ten being the highest), aside from that enjoy.**

Viper passed her trial with flying colours. Quite literally considering the nature of her tasks. Still a grand total of twenty meant that she could stay, but Tigress had already failed. Still Shifu would never let his prize pupil run away. Would he? She couldn't help her feeling of dicomfort as Monkey stood up for his trial.

He was to face ten karateka from Japan, masked and dressed as bandits. Monkey felt not only grateful but also a bit creeped out by exactly how quickly Oogway had got the Japanese students to fight him. Despite the fact that they were masked and wore either pure white or dark blue kimonos, their were a few hints that gave away their species. Three twirling sandy-grey, peach, and crimson red tails gave away three foxes amongst the group. Something tall, broad and tough looking, maybe a gorila. Two oxen, visible from their size and their horns. Two leopards, their tails and ears making them instantly recognisable. A rhino from his horn. And finally a small rat, easily misable amongst the group.

These foes stood in a circle around him, waiting until the simian gave the signal. Then they would charge and the battle would begin. They each assumed their respective stances. Monkey performed briefly the Kung fu salute. And then gave the signal(a high-pitched shriek designed to intimidate), and the fight began.

One of the leopards ran in with a kick, pivoting and turning around to provide maximum force on the blow. Monkey, rather the deflecting, dodging or blocking the attack, instead grabbed the leopards foot and puickly ducked down sweeping the leopard off of it's other foot just as it was about to punch the simian. Ducking, Monkey watched as the leopard's fist smashed into the ground, a loud and audible crack heard as Monkey cringed. The remaining nine were far more cautious.

The peach fox attacked next, with an elaborate number of jabs, that would indeed be hard to block. Monkey simply side-stepped this and aimed one of his own jabs from the back. The jab never hit it's mark, rather Monkey was grabbed by the gorilla and hurled across the arena. He stood up grinning wildly, a look of mischief visible in his eyes. He dusted himself off and cracked his knuckles. Now time to go oldschool. He rushed towards the crimson fox, and grabbed him in a full body hug, enveloping his arms. The fox promptly head-butted him. Monkey was pushed back a bit. But the desired affect appeared rather visibly. Instead of having a kimono trousers visible his underwear were clearly seen instead. By the time the other opponents realised what was going on, Monkey had un-pantsed the other leopard and both the oxen. Japanese in heart, their honour pretty much destroyed Monkey had already knocked out half the competition.

He rushed towards the rhino behind the mask but the bovine was expecting it. Quickly changing tactics, Monkey resorted to the quick and efficient art of jabbing. He must have hit several nerves as twenty seconds later the rhino was down and out for the running. That left the peach, and sandy-grey foxes, the rat and the gorrila.

The sandy-grey struck fast, with a punch that would have at least broken a rib. He proceeded to randomly aim roundhouse kicks at the simian, who luckily deftly dodged them all. The rat was surlrisingly strong, and the force of the small creature crashing agianst the back of his knee was enough to knock Monkey to the floor, winded but otherwise unhurt. The peach fox tried to bring down his leg against the monkey's nose, but his leg was caught in Monkey's arms, his tail proceeding to sweep the caninie off of it's other foot, bringing it painfully to the floor. The rat was back but this time Monkey was ready, catching the tiny rodent in the palm of his hands, as the small rodent tried in vain to get free.

The sandy-grey swung at him, but that was easily blocked with a simple movement of the tail. Monkey then proceeded to throw the furious rat at the vulpine's head. The enraged rodent randomly punching and kicking his teammate.

"Hey, guys calm down", he said before smashing their heads against each other, they groaned painfully and fell to the ground. That left him and the gorilla, who had somehow dissapeared. Turning on the spot Monkey was grabbed in a pincer position in the gorrilla's huge palms, already straining the smaller ape's arms. Seeing as he was about to lose both his arms, Monkey did the one and only thing he could think of. And he didn't care how dishonourable it was. Monkey aimed a kick at the gorrilas knee, which shook before collapsing letting the rest of the body to crash on the ground. Moaning in agony. The healers already making their way through the cheering crowds.

Monkey's score was the best one yet. Ten from the village elder. Eight from Oogway. And three from Shifu. Twenty-one points. He had passed. Monkey couldn't help but feel elated at the thought of staying at the Jade Palace. He walked with a new-found spring in his step.

* * *

Mantis's trial never came. And he had the lowest score of the lot. Zero, zero and zero.

It was either for punching the panda-kid in the crowd or for falling asleep during Shifu's lecture. Most suggested he was drunk, and his attitude the next morning did nothing to dispell the doubts.


	9. I'm In

**A/N: The funny thing is that I have been going around, asking authors if they ned help. Despite the fact that I struggled with this. Still I like the format of this chaoter, even if it is on the short side (then again most of my chapters are). To Araymeyr Fattahi. Just review already man. And I'll do your homework tommorow.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

By the time everyone else had woken up Tigress had already packed off all her possesions into her trunk.

"You're an early riser",Monkey commented as he found her in the kitchen. Tigress shrugged. The truth was she hadn't gotten any sleep between having to leave the Jade Palace and thinking of ways she could prove herself to Shifu, the night had been one sleepless toil.

She had been looking for her amulet, a tiny necklace(which she never normally wore) which was the one thing the people in Bao Gu orphanage had found on her when shehad been brought in. Still Monkey's presence was something she avoided no matter what. Forget the amulet she was out of here. If Shifu found it later on maybe he would keep it, a constant part of her with him. That felt fitting.

* * *

Something else she found was rather fitting was to take leave of him. Maybe just to see would he relent, or at least show some prick of emotion at her departure. She was lost in thoughts when she tripped over a scroll, one just in front of Shifu's room. Landing on her claws she remanouvered herself so that she could see the cause of her misfortune. And yet after reading the letter her lips curved into a smile.

* * *

She clutched the scroll like a lifeline, as if the mere existence of the object could somehow guide her through her destiny. This thought was so powerful, and so riveting that her normally, lightning fast reactions still didn't prevent her from having her face knocked against Mantis' door, which he had just opened.

The bug had woken up with a throbbing headache. It coursed through his veins almost rhythmically, like heartbeat. And the worst thing was he had no idea how he had been put into that state of existence. All he knew for sure was that their was no way he had passed his test. He would have to leave the Jade Palace.

The scroll landed open in his hands, like fate itself had thrust it into his thingies, begging him to take it. What he read made him shout out in joy, as usual, his tongue moving faster than his thoughts.

"Everybody wake up, I have a way to get us unfailed"!

* * *

The five animals assembled inside the kitchen, Viper rubbing her tired eyes. Crane fidgeting uncomfortably. Tigress looking as if about to kill. Monkey staring with mild interest. All as Mantis stood on the table, his small size failing to disguise his great ego.

"OK, listen up guys. Fate herself thrust this letter into my appendages, this is a sign, a sign that we must follow upon this quest, and because of the severity and danger entailed upon in this quest I have given all you, who have failed to pass the test of the Jade Palace, another chance to prove yourselves worthy of studying here. So who's up for it"?

"For your information, me and Monkey passed the test in flying colours", Viper scowled.

"And you did not find that letter, I did",growled Tigress.

"So what big deal. Crane, you want in right"?

The waterfowl nodded.

"Then it's settled. Me and my birdbrained sidekick shall go forth to bring back the escaped convicts. Tigress looses out on her home, and you two study here happily ever after".

"You really think a bug and a bird can bring a bunch of hardened criminals back to think", joked Monkey.

"It's thinking like that that stops people aiming for the sky. Besides you could be Shifu's favourite student, you passed the test and you bring back escaped phycos, how does that look on a resume"?

Monkey considered. Then shrugged."Fine, I'm in. I anyways didn't have a decent plan for tommorow".

"OK, change of plans, the three of us set out today, leaving you two to do girly things, and curl each others fur or something".

"That is so sexist".

"No it's not".

"At least sterytypical".

"It's steryotypical, actually".

"Enough,"roared Tigress."I'm in, as long as I'm leader".

Monkey and Crane merely shrugged, neither one wanting a broken limb before the trek even started. Mantis on the other hand would not go down quietly.

"No way, you flunked your test".

"And you had a lower score than me, so shut your tiny mouth. Besides I wonder what Shifu would say about you snooping around in his post".

"You wouldn't".

"She would", chirped Viper. "And I'm in, for Tigress".

"OK we leave tonight".

"Or we could leave now",croaked Crane, his voice suffering a severe sore throat.

"Yeah, or now"...


	10. Truth or Dare

**A/N:And another short chapter. Oh well what can you do. This chapter the focus was mostly about the five getting to know each other better, as individuals rather than a bunch of masters. That's why I took this away from the Jade Palace and more into the mountains. Also it gives me an excuse to use truth or dare as a title so I'm in either way. Update soon and enjoy.**

The first few days of the in journey were the worst in Monkey's life. Maybe not the complete worse. But not many things are worse than hiking through mountains, the mud sticking to your fur, in a near constant downpour. As if the heaven's were splashing buckets on the earth. They slept in caves, and none of them had thought of bringing supplies other than a blanket. Crane had found some berries, but he wasn't very clear as to how he knew they were edible, and they generally left them alone. Crane was the only one there who had eaten for the last three days, and even he was hungry. On the fourth day of their journey they waddled through a stream (Crane flew and Viper swam. But you get the picture). Monkey only noticed the leeches when Mantis spoke.

"Looks like Monkey's got some new friends". That was when he noticed a leech half his size lying on his back. None of them had ever heard a more high pitched scream in their lifetimes.

The fifth day was by far the worst and most horrible. They had travelled a great distance, and had arrived at a snow-topped peak.

"Funny how quickly we got here", commented Mantis to noone in particular.

"Five days is not quick, we should move out faster",scolded Tigress.

"For someone my size it's an achievement".

"Guys, this is stupid".

"What is Viper"?, questioned Tigress, her voice at once less harsh.

"We don't have food. We don't have water. We've got money but we can't use it. Oh and we have no decent place to sleep".

"Actually we do", Crane had just touchdowned, his tiny weight, barely pressing against the snow."Their's a small town just at the bottom of the mountain. We can get their by nightfall if we're lucky".

"When did you leave"?

"Ten minutes ago".

"How did you go down there in ten minutes"?

"It's called diving".

"It's called saving time",mused Tigress, her mind already forming a plan.

* * *

Shifu discovered the letter in Tigress' room. Kt was open, and had clearly been read. It certainly explained the palace's complete lack of people and emptiness. He also found Tigress' necklace. Hidden in the corner. He picked it up and sighed. The new students were roing exactly as Oogway said they would. Oh well, the letter was addressed to him. He was going to volunteer his services. He dropped the letter and stuffed the necklace in his pocket. There was no time to lose. He ran out the room.

* * *

Two hours later the group of five students were resting on a table by the fire, letting the warmth relax their aching muscles. They were sipping tea and munching on dumplings in silence. It was Mantis who suggested Truth or Dare. And despite the fact that noone had really agreed to it he somehow convinced them to play, saying it would be fun. Naturally he spun the chopstick. The sharp tip pointing at Crane.

The avian sighed already bored with the game. "Fine, truth".

"Have you ever loved someone"?

"Do you brush your teeth"?

"Why do you wear that hat"?

"What are you"?

"I'm supposed to answer all of them"?

His fellow travellers nodded.

"Let's think, yes,. Bird's don't have teeth",Mantis blushed."My mom gave it to me. And I think it would be pretty obvious that I am a Crane".

"I didn't mean by species", responded Tigress quickly.

"What, is this an interrogation"?

After a brief moment of silence Crane stood up and walked away. Mumbling goodnights, as he hurriedly took the steps to the second floor. Viper waited a while then slapped Mantis with the back of her tail, before she took to the stairs herself.

Monkey tried to lighten up th situation."So what's your family like", to noone in particular.

Tigress left and walked away without another word.

"What is it with girls these days"?

"Crane's a guy".

"Oh right".

"You wanna play mahjong".

"Fine by me".

"Ten yuan says I win".

"You're on primate. Does anyone here have any mahjong pieces we could borrow"?

A set was laid out onto the table almost immediately.

"I like your style. Where is it you said you came from"?


	11. Crazy Landlords

**D**

When Viper awoke the sun had already spilled it's rays across the tiny village they had found on their journey. She and Tigress had been discussing the group's next steps for most of the night. But at least they had come to the agreement that they would rest up there until they were all ready to continue on their quest.

She heard the sounds of crashing tables and chairs downstairs, and leapt into her battle stance, ready for anything that might burst through the door. But nothing did, rather the sounds continued, now with the additional noise of breaking glass, as if someone was desperately trying to wake up the entire inn. She emerged from her room onto the second floor landing, anice enough hall from which you could keep an eye on the rest of the inn. And she face-palmed. Only two people were stupid enough to do something like this. And their names were, Monkey and Mantis.

The snake observed silently as Mantis swiftly threw what seemed to be an endless supply of bottles towards the simeon, who in turn launched any bottle he managed to catch. Viper closed her eyes and counted to three. Then the landlord started screaming.

"What in the name of the Great Dragon, are you two doing? Do you seriously expect me to clean all of this up ? You owe me a LOT of compensation on all those bottles. And don't even get me started on the furniture"!

"With all due respect", suggested Tigress, who had somehow made it to the first floor, without Viper even noticing."We don't have that much money, and I'm pretty sure what little we have won't pay for any of this. Maybe if their was another way to pay you back"?

The goose considered. He did give his staff a holiday, that meant he would have to do ..."Their is one thing you could do. One day service. No buts. All five of you. Come with me, now".

Crane who had just emerged from his room was literally dragged across the wing by Viper, as he must have had absolitely no idea what was going on. They all followed the goose into a tiny room that must have served as his staff office. "You two", he pointed an accusing feather at Monkey and Mantis."You make mess, you clean mess. You"!, he pointed at Crane who positively flinched."You help. Now go"!

The small avian was practically bouncing up and down on his minute chair, and the three were just as anxious to leave.

"You, help cook", he pointed at Tigress who looked as if she was about to strangle the two who's fault it was. Needless to say it was a good thing neither was in the room as she stalked off, positively growling.

"And. I have special job for you. There is boy upstairs. Young. Probably sick. He keeps on moaning as if he has lost something precious. Said something about family. I no know name. I want help him. You comfort him. Spend day with him. Make poor boy happy. Is not hard. Yes"?

Viper nodded, weirded out by the landlord's behaviour, but at least it was better than clearing up shattered glass. Even now she thought she heard Monkey yelp in pain as he stepped on something sharp.

"Good",and he gave her a warm smile."Now go!, Go! Go, go, go go go

go"!

* * *

Viper slithered up the stairs, she was still unsure as to what exactly she was supposed to do with this 'boy'. After all what could she do ? The goose had not told her which number he had to himself. But there were only ten rooms, and half was where she and her comrades slept. That left five others. One had a label that read 'out of service'. Three were open and empty. That left the room at the edge of the corridor.

She wondered why on earth someone would need her help, with anything. She knocked, not wanting to intrude. Almost immediately she heard the sound of several locks being unlocked, as if the creature behind the door posssessed above average speed. A cheetah maybe ?

Then the door creaked open and she found herself staring into the creature's room. It was eerily neat, and the bed looked like it had not been slept in for ages. The whole air was filled with the smell of tea tree, bamboo and himalayan salt all boiling in a mixture in a corner. Aside from the bed and cauldron their seemed to be nothing else inside the she spotted the creature. It was a lynx, glazed pink, not a single hair of fur growng anywhere. He was unnaturally skinny, His ribs visible, as he only wore a pair of plain red pants that looked old and dirty, as if he nadn't changed clothes for months, but gave off no detestable stink, as if it were supposed to be like that. His eyes were almost unnaturally large, and the black of night. He wore a blank expression and yet was clearly surprised by her appearance at his doorstep. It took a while before Viper realised the lynx had talked to her.

"Can I help you"?, His voice it sounded soft and quite, like a constant whisper, but at the same time seemed to carry no emotion whatsoever.

"Yes, my name is", she hesitated, for some reason she did not want to tell her real name to this stranger, maybe it was what her mother said about strangers. "Mei Wei, I'm new about town, and everyone told me that if I needed any help I should go to you".

"They did"?

"Yes, they said I had to go to.." This would have been when her lie fell apart, but she managed to hold everything together and it was lucky that the lynx replied before she even finished her sentence.

"Mian Tiao, right"?

"Absolutely".

"Well then, I guess I should show you around. Give me a minute".

He closed the door. Viper was certain that this was going to be a really awkward day.


	12. One Awkward Invitation

**A/N: I was thinking of a way to join the two sides of this story together, and I believe that the answer lies in Viper. Short chapter and I know you're probably thinking I skipped a chapter, trust me it's all planned most of this chapter is following her. Actually it's following an .**

Though Gutou didn't show it, he was sweating like a pig (despite the fact that he knew pigs were incapable of sweating).

He had grown over the years since his family had died. But that didn't make his life any easier. He had done things noone should ever have, let alone at the age of fifteen. Still the years had passed and what was in the past, remained in the past. He had been through a rough ordeal in the prison itself, but he had found solace in Chi, coincidentally the same camel had made a monstrosity from his brother. Chi had trained him in the ways of the Underworld, in other words the way of crime. He had memorised a lot of famous quotes, but his favourite one was this :'Not every criminal wants to be one'. Either way his kife was complicated.

But the appearance of Mei Wei that morning had startled him. He had never been good with the girls of his village (but they believed him to be the cause of his mother's premature death, so it wasn't exactly his own fault.

Yet now here was a girl approaching him to spend time with him. And a pretty one at that. At first he had been suspicuous about her (Chi had taught him not to put all his trust in anyone not even the camel himself),she might have been some assassin from the Imperial Army, or maybe rival criminals trying to get up further in life. But as he spent more and more time with her he learned a few key things about her, things not even the best actor could hope to replicate.

Firstly she wore all her emotions on her sleeve... well on her tail anyway. Secondly she was realistic, she didn't do the obvious and just try and flatter him, she seemed to be just as awkward about it as he was, and that was saying something. It was almost as if someone had set them up on a blind date. Finally she was genuinely kind. Firstly she was nice to him, which he at first only saw In a suspicious sense. But that theory was dispelled when he saw her kindly apologise for bumping into a rabbit child when the kid had actually ran into her.

He however did have his reasons to suspect her. She ignored all questions on family relations, and avoided (skillfully and tactfully) any question to do with her skills at martial practice (he belived she possessed these skills after she had amazingly tripped on a stone and yet still remain as smooth as ice, or how she had leapt into a battle stance when he had crept up on her).

But all in all his day had been enjoyable. The two had gone around the market, joking around and browsing the items, no intent to buy anything visible on their faces. Still that did not take the fun out of it. Gutou's main struggle now was his guilt. He wanted to tell her the truth about him. But he wasn't sure if he could trust her. But most importantly he wanted to invite her to the meeting. Party. Villain. Celebration. Thing.

* * *

Viper opened the door to see Gutou standing at the doorstep, holding in his paws a clump of lavender sprigs.

"Hi", he said."I need to tell you something. Long and complicated. Do you have time"?

Viper nodded, and allowed the lynx to enter. He placed the lavender sprigs in a vase on her table, ajd plopped lightly onto the bed.

He poured his heart out to her every single bit, like a neverending torrent of rainwater that seemed to drench her almost entirely. He told her everything about him. But he never looked into her eyes. Her eyes that glistened turqoise. And at last when he had finished his tale he looked her in the eyes and said."My name is Gutou Dasui, not Mian Tiao".

Viper was shocked by all this information, but everything made sense. The letter for Shifu had said that three had escaped. One of whom was Gutou Dasui, and according to the landlord had arrived a few days ago. Most likely after escaping from prison. Viper was shocked that the l

ynx she had spent almost a day with was actually a cold-blooded killer, but it seemed to suit him. She was shocked. Bur she didn't show it.

"I too have a confession to make. I am".

"I know you were from the Imperial Army. But hear me out. I had fun today. Would you like to come with me tomorrow to the Guild of Darkness' anual festival"?

"Firstly I am independent. No Imperial Army here. But if I go I bring back-up".

"How many people"?

"Four".

"They can come, as long as they are disguised as waiters".

"Why"?

"Has anyone ever heard of you and your little gang"?

"No".

"Than stay silent or they kill you. Trust me I know. It happened in jail."

"Fine. Pick us up tomorrow, outside the inn".

"I can do that". And he sped off.

Viper shut the door and lay flat on the bed. She was worn out completely. But at least one was down. Two more escapees to find. Three more to catch. Viper slithered out the room. She needed to talk to Tigress. Things were getting a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _Beserker88 has sensed correctly when he sensed a crossover. A crossover between two of my fics that is._

 _Gutou Dasui's full story is the plot of Haunted House. Originally he wasn't going to have a major role on this story but since I wrote Haunted House the character really grew on me. No I do not ship OCs with cannon characters. Trust me I have this entire fic planned out._


	13. Disguises

Convincing Tigress to come had taken up most of the day. And then they had to come up with disguises.

Word had travelled fast about the 'Furious Five', and they couldn't take the risk of walking right into a criminal celebration, where everyone knew who they were. So by the time they met up with Gutou, they could not have looked more different.

Crane and Monkey were both wearing light brown vests trimmed with green strips, a cloack of dark brown, appearing like a thick blanket, rice hats (Crane had leant Monkey one of his) and a pair of green pants, patterned with strips of golden cloth irregularly sewed in.

Mantis was actually wearing something for a change. His disguise consisted of a bright red skin-suit that covered up everything except his head, making him look like some bizzare red bug. Viper's outfit hadn't really changed. She had already met Gutou and had thought it pointless for her to hide her form.

Tigress was wearing a robe of golden silk, shimmering with the pattern of green leaves and pink lottuses that were delicately built into the robe. She was also wearing a rice hat, but had gone significantly more fancy with her choices. In her opinion the gigantic purple plume sticking out from the center of the conical was easily the most ridiculous thing she had seen.

Gutou had clearly dug into his wardrobe as well, for instead of a pair of red pants and pink skin he wore a black and grey robe, buttoned at the center of each stripe,and on top of that he wore a completely black cloack that covered his whole body, like the dark of the night. His face was also hidden behind a flat mask, made out of silvery metal, with two gigantic black holes for his eyes. To Viper she took his appearance as merely hiding his abnormality. To Tigress he was trying to hide his identity.

The sun was setting and it was pouring, like someone had decided to throw out the oceans from the sky. Still the group of six seemed relatively cheerful as they headed out in the direction of a lone peak, far to the horizon.

Or so it seemed to Shifu as he watched from behind a rock. He would never have said it but he was amazingly proud of them all. For starters they had already tracked down one of the escapees, and were now laying in wait for the lynx to bring them to the rest. It was genius, and he himself had done it on countless occasions, but this was in a lot of ways harder. For starters there was five of them, so travelling incognito would have been incredibly hard for them.

He had found it all too easy to track them down since they left the Jade Palce. They had been thoroughly obvious. For starters he could see the chain of smoke created by the fire's from a hundred li away. And he could have heard Monkey's screams (after the incident with the leeches) from a thousand. Even now they were leaving tracks in the mud as if they wanted him to follow them. Well he would, but he wasn't going to do anything until he saw what they were planning.

* * *

At first the trip with Gutou was made out of awkward questions and even more awkward answers, but seeing as in Gutou's head they were all criminals, Mantis decided he might as well act the part.

"So, how many men have you killed"?

Gutou paused and stopped walking, giving Mantis a look from behind his mask.

"One".

"Phf, that can't be it. Common, you just escaped jail, you can't have gone to Physco Peison for killing one guy".

"Well I did. Wait a minute, I never said I escaped prison, I never even said I went to prison. How do you know this stuff"?

There was a moment where the intensity of the situation gripped everyone, who then all turned to Mantis.

Damn it. Got to backtrack."Your reputation preceeds you, oh furless one".

The lynx gave him a look that screamed suspicion, but he just kept on trudging through the muddy path."And you, what's your body count"?

Mantis whistled."Man, I lost count at five-hundred, you know, you never really know how many people you kill if you blow up a kid's birthday party, ot shoot a debate club".

"You take joy in killing"?

"Who doesn't"?

Mantis was under the impression he was gaining Gutou's trust, but if anything was making the lynx feel positively sick. Gutou gave Viper a look.

"He's just a hired gun, a bit of extra security we met along the way, trust me I think he's mad, just as much as you do, but in this business it's good to have allies, you can trust".

"Yeah, those of us with honour only kill when we have to".

"And you three are ? I mean I already met crazy".

"We are the three Japs. My humble, but mute crane Kappa, my Monkey Shinzaemon and myself, Lady Naritsugu".

"Pleased to meet some people with honour".

"May I just ask where we are going"?

"Well we've just arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, assassins and hitmen. Welcome to the Thieves Guild of Darkness".

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _A Kappa is a water goblin of japanese mythology, I thought it would be funny to compare one of the characters to a goblin._

 _Shinzaemon and Naritsugu are names I am pretty sure I got from some movie, but as I write this I can't seem to remember which one. Thirteen asssassains ?_

 _Enjoy and Update soon._


	14. The Thieve's Guild of Darkness

**A/N: So I decided to bring this story to a conclusion. I'm not saying that it's over, because it's not, and their are still a couple of hundred words to write and publish. So yeah, we're approaching the major conclusion. When this is over I'm either going to just go solo on House of Tamod or I might write a new story, because I'll be honest, I find it way more fun when I write back to the creative juices of my mind seem to flow quicker whenever I do I should probably stop writing an author's note the eize of half the chapter. So this ends the author's note.**

 **Enjoy and Update soon.**

"It's a rock", Mantis pointed out.

"Not exactly"..., began Gutou but Mantis interrupted him again.

"Well, it's a rock on a mountain, I'll give you that, but that doesn't really change the fact that it's a rock".

"How, may I

ask, did you ever become an assassin"?

"It's a really long and boring story that serves no true purpose in existing".

"Basically you got addicted to killing after some guy's choices ran out and he was left with you".

"That is the short and emotional version, yes".

Gutou roled his eyes and opened a small fragment of the rock, which split in two, revealing an entrance, like a burrow, hidden underneath. "Well, Master, everything is not as it seems. This is the entrance for smaller creatures, I think that technically this is appropriate for most of us. So Hop in".

And with that he leapt, Monkey counted ten seconds before he heard the thin thud of someone landing.

"It's ten feet". He stated simply before jumping in after the lynx. Followed by Mantis, Crane, Viper and finally after a bit of hesitation Tigress.

* * *

Shifu watched all of this from afar, he had expected that at least they would have been more observant. For starters they had left tracks a blind man could follow, literal holes in the mud. Monkey and Mantis he had never thought much of, so his first thoughts of them were that of amateurs moderately good at Kung Fu. Crane had at least come from Lee Da, a highly prestigous Kung Fu Academy (if not the best one), and he had expected more from him. Viper came from a family of Kung Fu artists, but her observance skills were more or less nonexistent, a fact he had pressed upon her inumerable times. Tigress was so far proving the biggest disapointment, he had trained her the longest, and he knew that she was just a bit inexperienced when it came to fighting other styles. But he had not expected her to act so rashly, at least she should have looked around before jumping. Still that made his job easier, and at least Gutou hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

* * *

The tunnel was long and twisting, in some parts they could have walked upright, in others they had to crawl through. The air was rank with moisture, giving it the feel of a giant sponge. It smelled very faintly of alchohol, and the deeper they went the stronger the stench became. It all ended when they arrived at a large wooden door, lighted with one torch, a nice contrast from the tunnels, and here at least you could stand erect. In the corner stood a drunk pig, spilling over his wine, he mumbled something inconspicuous. Gutou pushed opent the door, and the sight beseeched them.

In that room there was a couple of round tables at the edges and a large mahjong table in the centre of the room. There was a counter, from which inumerable sweaty people emerged carrying food and drink. But the worst thing was the people there. These were people most sane creatures would never hope to meet in their lifetime, let alone stroll into a room full of them. Even the waiters looked like they would rip your head off if you didn't give them a tip. And to add insult to injury, they were expected to find everyone who had escaped from that jail. Also if they were caught they might as well jump off a cliff or strangle themselves, either way it was a nicer way to go than anything any of them would do.

"So, go out and enjoy", said Gutou, who was somehow completely unafected by the fact that all of China's most brutal people were gathered in one room. He took Viper's tail in his paw and the two walked away, Viper mouthing a 'help me' behind his back.

"So what's the plan"?, asked Mantis, clearly taken aback by the volume of the event.

"Outside "ordered Tigress, and the group followed suite."OK we split up and go find what we're looking for. We have gutou and we know where he's staying, so Viler can keep him busy. Mantis, try and find a rat, he's called Jixiao and is believed to have assissted in the escape of the accused, I'd give you a wanted poster, but it'd be too obvious".

Mantis nodded and left, heading straight for the mahjong table.

"The three of us will pretend to be waiters, try and find either a camel called Chi, or a snake called Juda. Don't attract attention to yourselves and stay separated. You guys got it"?

"Yep, just a comment on your descriptive skills, there are three camels in their".

"So blame General Chuizi, he wrote the letter. And he let them get away. Yeah it's pretty much all his fault. Now let's go".

So the three kicked open the doors and split, as if they never knew each they could hear people calling the exhausted waiters, whom Monkey insisted go home and rest assuring them that they would look after the place. It was going to be a very long night.


	15. Under the Rocks

**A/N: Three or four more chapters to go and this story is complete. So enjoy. Action next chapter. :)**

Mantis' search was getting nowhere. He had foud a rat that matched the description he had been given, but when he had asked for the rat's name the rat had asked why and Mantis had no good excuse to satisfy the rat with. He was currently sweating over how to proceed.

"It's just that you match the description of the great and powerful Jixiao, whom I have travelled a great and gigantic distance to serve".

The rat seemed to consider him for a while."Well, bug, that is because I am the great and powerful Jixiao".

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I'm so excited. All the people from my village will be so jealous".

"They will"?

"They will"!

"How good would you say you are at mahjong"?

"I'm OK, but I'm certain that my skills shall never exceed yours".

"Of course they won't".

They both laughed and Mantis was glad this rat was so full of himself. A pickpocket could see through his disguise.

* * *

Crane's search was by far easier. There was only one camel in the room. And he bled from every hole in his body, a steady stream of blood. From his eyes, still a vivid red, his nostrils, his hooves, his mouth, his ears, his khaki green pants were stained around the abdomen. Crane was stuck for a conversation starter. He had one but he thought it was rude, then again this was a bar hidden in a mountain full of criminals.

"Excuse me, why do you, um you know, bleed"?

"Sit", it wasn't an invitation, it was an order. His accent was unplaceable, and Crane felt rather intimidated by him.

"I don't know why but I feel I can trust you", Crane didn't know why either, but he felt like he would never trust anyone like him, with several accounts of fraud, piracy, murder and serious bodily mutilation under his belt."I was born and abandoned in a barn. I was found bya local doctor, a nice man. He looked after me, gave me milk. But when I grew up he could only feed me broken up animal parts. It was that taste of flesh that really gave me the push I needed. Eventually I killed him, ate him, he wasn't very tasty, a bit too chewy," Crane gulped audibly, this camel was seriously messed up." So I took over his business, I cured people during the day and ate them at night. Those were the good days. But one day I made my fatal mistake. See these parents came their son was sick, really sick, he was dying, he needed a change of limbs, his fur was falling off and he needed a new stomach. I gave him all of that but, they weren't all from the same animal as he was. He became a monster of sorts. The parents dumped him at an orphanage. They called the army on me, they found my stash of bodies, chewed up bones, sent me to jail, now I've escaped".

"OK, I was just asking why you were bleeding, that's all".

"Oh, that, I was born this way".

Crane nodded and stood up to leave, anxious to get away from the camel.

"Where are you going"?

"I'm a waiter".

"Sit", Crane only sat because he was fairly certain that the camel would break his neck if he didn't. "I enjoy your company. Tell me what is your name ? Your story ? All that stuff".

"Well I'm Kappa-"

"That is a fake name, what is your real name"?

Crane panicked. "Um, Employes".

"Employes, what"?

"Employes Muswashands".

Chi turned and looked at the sign that read 'Employees must wash hands'. "That is a fake name, what is your real name"?

"Gurls".

"Gurls, what"?

"Gurls Washoom".

Chi turned and looked at the sign that read 'girls washroom'. By now the camel had had enough. Grabbing Crane by the throat he asked one last time.

"Fine, I'm Crane, and I'm a student of Kung fu".

Chi laughed and let go. Crane nervously rubbing his neck. "OK, have your privacy, I respect that".

* * *

"What do you mean I'm not on the list, my name is Bushiro Tokemi"?

Shifu was having trouble getting past the drunk security guard, most likely because said security guard was drunk.

"No it's not, you're Master Shifu of the Jade Palace", the pig snorted.

OK, plan B. All it took to knock out the pig was a knee to the stomach and a punch to the face. Then it was a simple matter to change clothes. Under the black rice hat, eyepatch and fluorescent green robes Shifu was practically unrecognisable. He would not interfere with what his students were doing, he would only step in if they needed the help. It was time for a regrading.

* * *

To Monkey the evening passed swiftly, all he had to do was go around and deliver drinks or snacks to people,(or in the case of one hippo an entire gourmet feast).Crane and Chi were talking nonchalantly, despite the fact that Crane looked like he was about to die and he knew it. Viper was playing Gutou well, seemingly enjoying herself, though Monkey suspected she was. Mantis was loosing nine to nil in mahjong. He had caught sight of Juda, sleeping in a corner. So as soon as they coyld, the Five could grab them, after all they had them all trapped already. One funny moment was when some buffalo had asked for more rice wine, Tigress refused to give it to him and when he pulled on her tail she aimed a kick on his face, which he blocked, she then leapt up and kicked his face repeatedly with her other foot. Things were going remarkably well.

Shifu smiled under his disguise. That had been the first combo he had taught her.


	16. Out of the Fire

**A/N:So I'm giving this story one final push out the door. Two more chapters to go. Enjoy and Update soon.**

It was not often that the sight of a half-naked, drunk and one-eyed pig bursting into a room conjured a sense of fear, but in this case it did, to Shifu.

"Attention, everyone, Master Shifu has snuck into the building".

It is in times like these that one little action can create so much havoc. Mantis laughing was one of th hese. His laugh faded away quickly. As did any hope of ecape."Hey you look a lot like this guy", someone somewhere pulled out a poster advertising the 'Battle of the Full Moon, and pointed at the drawing, which was pretty much all of them.

Tigress cracked her knuckles, if they were caught now, they were doomed for sure. But their was one slight slimmer of hope, for at that moment a minute voice began squeaking unbelievably loudly.

"Everyone, the Thieve's Guild of Darkness, orders for the immediate evacuation of its members from this area. If you choose to stay and fight and are captured in the process, then it's your fault and we cannot be held liabable. Seriously just run".

It was amazing how quickly a crowded room had lost so many people, a couple of smoke bombs and almost everyone was gon e. Shifu would have stayed but he had been swept away by the crowd heading for the door. That left the sleeping Juda, Jixiao, Chi, Gutou, the half-naked pig, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Tigress. Gutou ran out the room and headed towards a door they hadn't noticed before. Tigress gave chase, soon followed by Viper. Monkey was already cracking his knuckles, getting ready to beat the stuffing out of whoever the pig was supposed to be. Crane atood up, as did Chi, and it was only while standing tnat Crane really understood how big Chi was. He was gargantuan. The avian only reached up to his belly buton, the camel was practically twice his height. He gulped audibly, Chi just smiled a smile that read, I can't wait to kill you.

* * *

Gutou had literally trapped himself. There was only one way off of the roof and that was called flying, but he neither possessed wings nor was the wind strong enough to give him a lift. There were a few rocks on the side of the mountain, that could serve as ledges, but he knew that Tigress and Viper would give chase. He turned around to face them, just as the trapdoor burst open.

"Don't move", ordered Tigress.

"I won't", he said, his voice completely empty of all and any emotion.

He attacked first aiming a split kick at both of them, though Viper managed to move her face out of the way, Tigress' leg took a nasty hit, just below the knee. The larger feline retaliated by using her signature double palm strike on the lynx's chest, sending him flying a couple of feet, back to the edge of the mountain, before he could retaliate however Viper had wrapped her coils around him and when she unwrap them, she sent the lynx into a dizzy spin. Tigress lifted the dazed feline and sent him crashing to the ground. She was pretty sure he was knocked out.

"Come on, the others will probably need our help".

Just as the trapdoor was shut Gutou sat up, and dusted himself. He had known from the start that he would be no match against them, and that was probably why he had 'fainted', do early into the battle. He knew they wouldn't come back soon, so he started climbing down the mountain by leaping onto one of the rocks, and then onto another, and so on.

* * *

Crane knew that from the start of the fight he was doomed, but that had not stopped him trying to win. He just couldn't fight Chi, the camel had a counteraction for eyerything. When Crane had leapt into the air, and had repeatedly kicked his face, the camel had bitten his foot and gave uim a punch on the beak. Crane was covered in blood, but none of it was his own. He had no idea why the camel had not died of blood loss.

"Don't you ever bleed out"?

"No", he said as he lifted a tableand threw it in the avian's direction, Crane ducked, but the object only missed by milimetres, his hat b ad been knocked off. But that had only been a diversion, the camel ran forwardsat a tremendous speed, in fact Crane was surprised that anyone that big could actually move so fast. In the last second the camel leapt into the air, brought all his body weight onto one hoof, which he then placed on Crane's knee.

For the avian the pain was unbearable, but he didn't feel it for long as the famel started slamming his hoof against the avian's face. He did so three times and stopped. If he killed the bird they would go after him. If he left now it was like he did nothing. So the camel merely walked out the stafroom door, kicking it off it'hinges and arriving into open day light, it was now early morning, the sun had not risen, and the moon was still on the dege of the horizon Chi walked away from the scene of devastation behind him, he was soon joined by Gutou, who leapt immediately to his side.

"So, what next, this little field trip didn't really help much did it"?

"I think it was, as you have finally learned the importance of not trusting others so quickly. As to what we do next, I hear that Lord Morgan is holding some sort of contest, how would you like to enter"?

"A tournament"?

"Essentially".

"Yes Master".

"Good and after that you won't need me, I won't need you, we split, you know, like bananas".

Gutou was still unsure as to how much he actually liked Chi, after all sometimes the camel disgusted even him, and he had stuffed an elephant down a sugar grinder. The two walked away from all the fighting going on within the mountain.

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _Gutou is a character I find surprisingly hard to write about, (aside from the fact that it auto corrects to Get ouf) I try to make him bland, because that's what he is. Emotionless. I apologise to those expecting a major final battle. To be honset it's more of a thrashing. Gutou and Chi do appear again soon. Both will appear in Mind Jack's Tournament arc, in fact the tournament was merely a reference to his story. Only Chi will appear in the Feral Islands, and Gutou I guess just goes on the run after what happens in Silence of the Hare._

 _Enjoy and Update soon._


	17. The Real Climax

The pig was already very drunk and Monkey knew from experience that after a lot of alchohol, the mind slows downnconsiderably. He also knew that most of the time it boosted your strength and pain tolerance. He was not in danger of harm, but rather was in danger of harming, for he knew what a punch could do to you if you were drunk, again from experience. He avoided the slow, and unorganized punches, he wasn't even sure whether or not the pig was trying to aim. The simian side stepped a bottle that was thrown at him, lifting a table and ducking behind it, out of the way of the volley of glass that was launched at him. When the firing stopped the ape peaked over his shield, observing the pig, who had mysteriously dissapeared. Purely out of instinct he spun around, and it was lucky that he had done so for the pig had a knife in hand, and from his position Monkey could tell that he was about to stab him in the back. For a few moments they struggled, both using their arms to point the weapon away from themselves. Monkey, having enough, lashed out with his foot, which sent the winded pig sprawling on the floor., the knife however had gotten into the air and was descending in a downward arc, Monkey leapt forward, grabbing the knife by the blade mid fall, just as it was about to stab the pig in the heart. However his hand was cut rather deeply, and the simian hurriedly waved it around, before tearing off his belt and wrapping it around his wounded appendage.

* * *

Jixiao had hoped at the start of the fight that Mantis' fighting skills were as bad as his mahjongs'. Much to his dissapointment all his hopes were defeated. The insect lashed out with incredible speed in a chop which the rat caught. The rodent next aimed a kick at the bug's chest, and then at the face, both failed to make contact, for Mantis had blocked both with his feet and had lashed out with his 'thingies'. Which the rat desperately avoided by leaping over the bug, landing he spun around, only to be grabbed around the neck by Mantis' thingies, and repeatedly kicked by the bug's four legs. In fact Jixiao realised too late that he had no hope at all against Mantis, for even if his tail counted, Mantis had an extra appendage. Spinning around he hit Mantis on the face with his tail, the bug got up as if he had never been hit and charged, at first in two chops of his arms and four kicks on his face with all his feet. Jixiao aimed a puch, which Mantis caught, pulling the rat to the side so that he could kick him in the stomach, this time however the bug hit a nerve (entirelly by accident of course), causing the rat to freeze up completely as if he was encaged in ice, only the room was completely devoid of life. Mantis scratched his head confused.

* * *

Shifu was exhausted. It was one thing to fight an angry mob of maurauding monitor lizards, but it was entirely different to fight your way through a wave of frightened people, all desperate to get away, in the opposite direction Shifu wanted to go in. It was like trying to swim up a waterfall, you were doomed before you even tried. Shifu just hoped that his students were still alive. That's right his students. He had decided when he saw Tigress kick the ox. If these group were willing to put their life on the line to save China, even if they didn't possess the skills or the knowledge of how to do so. Then it seemed fitting that he give them the skills, and the knowledge.

* * *

Tigress kicked down the door, the wooden furniture flying all the way across the room. She and Viper leapt out, already in their room was empty and devoid of the excitement it had possessed when they had first arrived. Jixiao was frozen on a table, like a minute life size statue, strangely surreal due to the moving eyeballs. Chi was nowhere to be seen. Monkey and mantis were both huddled around Crane.

"Is he dead"? Asked Viper, her voice full of concern.

"No", replied Monkey.

"His leg's broken and he's in shock. But he should be allright", diagnosed Mantis solemnely.

"What happened to Gutou"? Asked Monkey, changing the subject.

"He escaped", growled Tigress. Indeed the lynx and the damel were still barely visible on the horizon fro the broken staff room door.

"So did Chi", said Viper sadly.

"So all that work was for nothing"! Shouted Monkey.

"We caught Jixiao".

"And the pig".

Soothed both Viper and Mantis. Just then Tigress noticed something. The lynx, the camel, the rat, the pig, everyone was accounted for except for Juda.

Tigress had no time to yell, she merely ducked low while she still could. Mantis noticed this and followed swiftly. Monkey and Viper were less quick on the uptake, both taking the full force of the impact crashing on the counter out cold. Tigress rolled out of a way of a tail slap that splintered the floor. Mantis copying her every move as she began crawling away.

"Why are you copying me"!? She shouted.

"Because you actually know what you're doing"! Mantus shouted back.

"No I don't", she replied just as a table went flying above her, taking Mantis to the land of unconciousness. Slithering on the ground was a gigantic serpent, at least twice as long as Chi.

"Now this is fair, it's so much more fun to fight one on one. Don't you think"? Her voice was high pitched and annoying.

Tigress attacked with her signature double palm strike, the serpent was too slow to dodge and crashed onto a table, splintering it into a thousand pieces.

"Oooh, you're strong", the snake cooed."Let's test your speec next". Now Juda attacked, using the tip of her tail to send punches to the female tiger, who desperate unsheathed her claws and caught hold of the tip, causing the serpent to shriek in pain and writhe in agony. Infuriated Juda seemingly ended the fight, wrapping her coils tightly around Tigress, the reptile squeezing with all her strength. The air was leaving her lungs due to the pressure, her face was going red annd she couldn't breathe. Her claws thankfully were stil, unsheathed and, latching onto the snake's coils she peirced deeply, causing the snake to unwrap her. Tigress lunged with all ten of her claws, but in the last second the snake twisted out of the way, the feline's claws embedding themselves into the wall. Obe quick chop was all the serpent did next, but Tigress' claws were still torn clean off of her, as if someone had pulled them all off. Her paws were bleeding, and Tigress could not find the strength to resist as she was strangled by the serpent's coils. She was unsure whether or not she dreamed the next part, and she never found out. All she did know was that the last thing she heard was Shifu shrieking.

"Scales off my daughter this instant".

But even that she doubted was real. Shifu never considered her his daughter.


	18. The Basic Plot

**A/N: So welcome to my last chapter of the five. Funny how iit has eighteen thousand five hundred words exactly. Enjoy and Update soon.**

What Happened to Who:

Furious Five: Tigress awoke in one of her least favourite places on earth. The Valley of Peace's Healers. She didn't really hate it. But it was scary. She dealt with criminals, but the doctors were the real freaks, how could you always go around smiling? And then there was the design. Everything was white. The bed the bedcloth, the walls, the uniform, the patient's outfit. Everything was surreal, and there was also the fact that white was the colour of death. As a child she had always asked the question. Why had someone put the colo

ur of death, in a place where life was looked after?

She sat up, stretching her arms, she could see that her paws were bandaged but knew that they weren't bleeding, and already she could feel her claws regrowing.

"You're finally awake", Crane had never looked worse for wear. His leg was in a cast, and his eyes drooped from lack of sleep, he looked exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. But sounded cheerful enough.

"How long was I out"?

"Four days", Crane answered plainly."Master Shifu was worried sick, he kept coming to the hospital and he just sat their, looking at you, I bet he thought I was asleep. But to be honest it was actually kind of scary, I mean he's not rela"-

Tigress cut him short."He's my father by adoption, but we never adress each other as such. He's my master and I'm his student, that's all".

"So you're an orphan"? Tigress nodded curtly."They say the best people are. And that means Viper is the only one with a full house".

"What"?

"Well, you're an orphan, so technically you don't have any parents, Viper has both her mom and dad".

"Five sisters and a brother".

"Mantis' mom apparently ate his dad's head before he was born. Monkey's dad died serving the Imperial Army and my dad died a couple of years back, some disease".

"How do you know this"?

"We played truth or dare yesterday. In fact that's the reason none of the others are here", his face brightened into a smile."Also, I would reccomend eating the dumplings now".

Tigress turned and saw a large pot filled with steaming dumplings. On it were two notes. One was a 's noodle shop coupon, the other was a small handwritten note that was barely readable. 'Get well, soon, from your number one fan, Po Ping', was all she managed to read.

"Some panda delivered them, nice kid really".

Tigress wasn't hungry, but she still put the dumpling into her mouth. It was delicious. But then the best news came.

"I shouldn't really say this, but it's good news. Master Shifu let us all stay".

Tigress flopped on her bed, contented. And when the rest of the five told her the same news that evening, she remembered to act surprised.

* * *

Chi and Gutou: Gutou was not easily impressed. The figure of Lord Morgan was hiding in a shadowy throne, covered in darkness. But as far as he was concerned Gutou had no wish whatsoever to talk to someone he knew could break his neck in two seconds.

"So you wish to enlist", he was also certain that that was a fake voice.

"Yes, my student Gutou Dasui". Gutou bowed politely. Lord Morgan snapped his fingers. Chi backed away just an ox fame charging at the lynx. Not even flinching he pulled out his weapon of choice, an invention that was essentially a telescope with a blade attached to the side. Leaping into the air he appeared behind the ox, grabbing him down in a choke hold. Lord Morgan nodded and Gutou slit the bovine's throat. He was sick with himself, of himself. But he did what he had to do to survive, for in the criminal world, survival was key.

* * *

Jixiao and Juda: Jixiao watched from a distance as his wife was put back in the prison he had broken her out of a few days before. Only this time the security was far higher. Hr gulped and turned around. No force in the universe could make him go there, and with his wife behind bars she couldn't really do anything to him.

* * *

Shifu and Oogway: Shifu and Oogway were at the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, watching as the sun set on the Valley of Peace. "So what made you decide to keep the students"?

"Well"-

"You learned that it's ones beliefs and action and choices that define us, not our abilities".

"Yes Master".

And so as the sun set in the Valley, it did so in this story as well.

* * *

 **Basic Plot:**

 **The story begins with the arrival of Monkey, Mantis and Crane at the Jade Palace. Tigress upon recieving news that they are permanant students rushes over to Shifu who in turn ran over to Oogway. Who decided to hold a tournament for the five of them to show their skills to the Valley. The group have a bunch of fortune cookies, before the tournament begins. Tigress, Mantis and Crane all fail in their respective tasks, and are therefore to leave the Jade Palace. However when Tigress finds a letter to Master Shifu, stating the news of some escaped criminals, the group head off, now with a chance to redeem themselves andc prove their worth. They find a small village wherein Viper bumps into Gutou Dasui, one of the escapees, who takes her and the group to the Thieve's Guild of Darkness, the annual party held inside the mountain. There they find the people they were looking for, but when their cover is blown they are forced to fight, but are still overwhelmed. Shifu in the end comes to their rescue. In the end it is revealed that the group have been allowed to stay, based on the merit of their deeds not on their skills.**

* * *

 _Footnote:_

 _This story has been incredibly fun to re write. It has one less chapter that before but around six thousand more words. As usual a score out of ten, ten being the highest. So now that I finished this story I will of course continue writing House of Tamod, but I will also say it right here and right now that I write better back to back two fics at the same time, it suits my style far more. And I don't want to update the same story four times a week. Therefore I will write The Feral Islands next, a T rated story that might turn into an M, it will contain, swearing, violence, gore, vore and will be my re write of The Heist of the Jit Kun Crystal:Bei. Personally I prefer this new version over the older one, don't even get me started on how much catchier this new title is compared to the old one. So Enjoy and Update soon. Merry Christmas to all my friends on Fanfiction and Happy New Year._


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